The Past is in the Past
by SouthSouthWest
Summary: Physics student Anna is sent back in time to the 1950s and discovers a younger - and more beautiful - version of her present-day neighbor, Elsa. Elsanna, non-incest. Rated M for sexual content later on.
1. Chapter 1

"Anna, we have a code blue in the reactor tunnel, do you copy?"

"Jeez Kristoff, what is this? Some super-secret black-ops experiment?"

"Well, no, I just wanted to sound cool over the intercom."

Anna had to hold back laughing at her dope of a colleague. The two had been assisting their physics professor, Dr. Anderson, all throughout the summer while he worked on what he called "the most important quantum device ever conceived in the history of mankind." Personally, both students believed that their more-than-eccentric professor was just blowing off steam again, but worked as hard as they could anyway.

"Okay, what was this about the reactor tunnel and a code blue?" Anna spoke through the intercom while multitasking and checking her professor's equations for thermal reaction.

"Oh, well that was my way of saying everything's looking good on my side over here. Code blue is good, right?"

"I think it actually means someone's dying if you used it in a hospital setting."

"Well, we're not _in_ a hospital, we're a few hundred feet underground. Y'know what? For this project, I decree that code blue means everything is a-ok."

The redhead scoffed, "Whatever, General Bjorgman."

Anna glanced at the watch on her wrist, the digital face just blinking to 11:30. She sighed and looked at the page of equations in front of her. Though she was only going to be a junior physics major in the fall, Dr. Anderson insisted on having her check thermodynamic systems that could've stumped Paul Ehrenfest himself.

Dr. Anderson was always very secretive with his work, and told the university that he would only be taking two underclassmen to help him on his experiment that summer. The two, he had proclaimed, must be trustworthy, earnest, and competent. Anna had taken Dr. Anderson for all her required physics classes since her freshman year, and practically jumped out of her seat when she received the email from him choosing her as one of his two assistants. She wasn't quite sure of Kristoff's background, only knowing that he would be a senior mechanical engineer in the fall. Dr. Anderson had probably chosen them as his assistants to cover all of his bases while constructing…whatever he was constructing.

Personally, Anna was confused by the choice of only two assistants. Though Dr. Anderson was probably the smartest man she'd ever met, it seemed illogical, almost cocky in her eyes to only have two other people work with him on the entirety of this project. When they took the elevator down to the bowels of the physics building on their first day at the beginning of the summer, Anna had been expecting to see a bustle of researchers in the underground area, all working in collaboration with Dr. Anderson while Anna and Kristoff checked over the simplest of tasks and delivered coffee. Instead, the two undergrads had been shocked to learn that they, along with Dr. Anderson, would be the only people working in this space.

Dr. Anderson also kept the place under high security, requiring Anna and Kristoff be given key cards so they would be allowed past the locked doors to the elevators on the ground floor of the physics building that lead down to the underground warehouse. Then, once down, they had to individually go through a retinal scanner to make sure they didn't bring any unauthorized people into the workspace.

Anna grew even more frustrated at the work in front of her. She grumbled, picked up her paper with scratch work on it, crumpled it up and threw it across the room with a small scream before slamming her face down on her metal workbench.

She heard the door leading to the machine room open, the clumping of Kristoff's giant feet announcing his arrival. He paused for a moment - Anna could hear the quiet crumpling of paper in his hand - before clunking over to Anna's bench.

"Tsk-tsk Anna," he scolded the redhead, plopping her discarded wad of paper in front of her downturned face, "You know that Dr. Anderson likes us to keep our stations 'neat and free of debris.'"

Anna groaned and turned her head up to face Kristoff, who had to stifle a laugh at the giant red mark that was growing on his colleague's forehead. The physics major narrowed her eyes at him before bringing her hands up to cradle her head from falling onto the desk again.

"Maybe if the professor allowed a cleaning crew in here we wouldn't have to worry about picking up our own shit," she grumbled.

"Now, now Anna" Kristoff said with a wink, "you know that violates his 100% secure workplace standards."

Anna scrunched her face up at Kristoff, glaring at him until she heard the door opening again. She straightened up her posture, as did Kristoff, as they looked towards the only other person in the underground facility – Dr. Anderson.

Their professor had to be at least 90 years old, yet looked to be no older than 65. He was tall, about the height of Kristoff, but his figure was more lean and thin than muscular and bulky. His golden blond hair, which Anna couldn't believe was real, was combed against his head in the most formal of ways. A pair of khakis and a white lab coat adorned his figure, and he looked upon the two students with the most intelligent gaze ever set in a man's face.

"And how are my two prized students getting along on this fine day? Anna, did that hot-head of yours fly too close to the sun again? I see a bit of sunburn growing there." The redhead blushed and turned away as she covered her forehead with her hand.

"Mr. Bjorgman," the professor turned to the now-giggling engineer, "how are the energy reactors holding up in the tunnel?"

Kristoff quickly cleared his throat before answering, "Fine, Dr. Anderson. I checked over the settings this morning to make sure nothing had fallen out of alignment during the night, since we had that small tremor yesterday."

Dr. Anderson nodded, pleased with the report, "Very good, Kristoff." He glanced at the clock hanging behind Anna's desk, almost looking as if he was making some internal calculations as he stared at the three hands moving around the clock face. He nodded once, and turned away, towards the scanner room that, beyond, held the elevator leading to the world aboveground.

Without turning back to face his assistants, he spoke, his voice as formal and refined as he,

"I'll be taking my lunch break now. You two be back here by 1:30 sharp – I want to run some tests on the tunnel before the day is through."

The professor strode through the retinal scanner, not blinking once as the plane of red light moved across his face. Walking up to the elevator, he pressed the call button, the doors opening after no more than a second's pause, as they should. Entering the metal box of the elevator, he called out to the two students.

"Don't dawdle now, you two. Science never waits!"

The doors of the elevator closed, the car zooming up the hundreds of feet to the surface.

Kristoff looked back at Anna, whose face was practically beet-red. Though she had known Dr. Anderson for years, she could never quite shake the strange effect the man had over her. The blond giggled again at the sight of his friend's shock.

"Come on, sunburn girl," he teased her, "we only have a few hours to taste the light before we're shut in here for the rest of the night."

Anna shook her head as if clearing the thoughts that muddled her conscious. She opened one of the drawers on the bottom of the bench and took out her purse stashed inside. Slinging it over her shoulder, she nodded at Kristoff, and the two set off for the doors that would take them to the surface.

As they rode the elevator up, Kristoff wouldn't stop talking about the double-decker sandwich he was planning on having for lunch at the nearby deli. _Boys and their food_, Anna thought.

"-You're going over there, right?"

Anna looked up at Kristoff, apparently having missed the first part of his conversation directed towards her. "Sorry, what?"

"You're going over to see Elsa for lunch, right?" He repeated with a smile.

Anna grinned, the thought of her friend filling her with joy.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

* * *

**AN: Hi everyone! This is my first published fanfic, as well as my first Elsanna fic. I plan to stick with it for now so I hope you all enjoy! ~SSW**


	2. Chapter 2

In a small, suburban part of the town of Arendelle away from the university, in front of a tiny white house, was a garden. In the garden bloomed dozens of species of flowers, from tulips to daises, roses and chrysanthemums, all lovingly cared for daily by the occupant of the house. This woman, though quite elderly, gripped the 20-pound watering can she was carrying as if it were light as a feather, generously giving each flower in her garden supple amounts.

A screeching noise caught the woman's attention, and she looked up from her flowers in time to see an orange VW Bug come racing around her street, coming to a squealing halt in front of her walkway. The driver's door opened, and the woman could see a head full of red hair stumble out of the car, as if in a rush.

Anna, having hit nearly every red light on the route from the university to Elsa's house, made up for bad luck by breaking every speed law the town had to offer. She ran, out-of-breath, up to the white picket fence that surrounded the small house and its garden.

The woman placed her watering can gently down on the ground - standing up with a smile on her face – and walked towards the gate, opening it for the college student right as she ran up to it.

"In a rush today, Anna?" the woman chuckled, her voice sounding to Anna as full and beautiful as church bells.

The redhead blushed, absentmindedly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she stammered out a response.

"N-no! Well, yes. There were lights, and then this guy on his bike, and an abnormally large squirrel-" Anna blushed even harder when she heard the woman laugh at her response, then couldn't help but laugh along with her friend.

Anna had known Elsa for as long as the two had been neighbors. She had moved to the neighborhood with her parents when she was about ten years old and full of resentment towards her parents for moving the young girl away from all her friends. She had almost thrown a tantrum when her mother told her to _"go talk to the nice old lady next door,"_ yet had gone and visited her anyway. Anna was still in a fit of anger when she had rang the doorbell to the small white house, but all negative feelings had melted away once she looked upon the house's occupant.

Even at ten years old, Anna had been able to appreciate Elsa's beauty, absolutely breathtaking as it was. She was tall and lithe, like the Russian ballet teacher Anna's parents had once employed to teach their only child (who had left after only a few weeks with "the clunking demon girl") without the stern face of a matron. On the contrary, Elsa's face seemed to be free of any sun or liver spots, and only a single wrinkle or two marred her otherwise perfect skin.

Anna remembered she couldn't help but stare at her new neighbor; if Dr. Anderson had sipped once at the fountain of youth to retain his looks, Elsa had a glass of the mythical water every night with supper. Even now, as Elsa passed her eightieth year, she looked hardly a day older than when Anna first met her, if not a little more tired.

"So, Anna," Elsa started when the two were comfortably seated on the porch swing, "how's your research at the university going these days?"

Anna sipped at the tea her neighbor had been so kind of enough to prepare for her before answering, "It's going well. Dr. Anderson says that we're going to run an experiment later on tonight, though I still haven't the faintest idea what we're even trying to accomplish down there. The tunnel we've been working on almost seems like a sort of energy reactor, but doesn't have any output besides a few sparks now and then. I almost feel as if he's hiding its true design from us."

Elsa smiled down at the young, disgruntled-looking scientist before leaning over and patting her knee.

"I'm sure the project is going to go wonderfully," she reassured Anna, "Dr. Anderson is an amazing man, and I'm so proud of you for being able to work alongside him."

The older woman stood up, causing the swing to move at the loss of her weight. "I'm going to go bring out some sandwiches, Anna dear. I'll be right out," she explained before opening her front door and disappearing into the house.

Anna sighed as she held her tea, a contented smile on her face. Elsa had always been so supportive of her, as if the woman was Anna's own flesh-and-blood grandmother. She gave off an aura that made a young Anna feel safe and secure in her presence, like nothing could even go wrong if she was with Elsa in her garden.

The redhead looked out across the perfectly trimmed lawn, marveling at the impeccable arrangement of flowers that grew along the edge of the white picket fence. When she was younger, Elsa had taught her the names of every single flower in the garden, and together the two would tend to the plants daily, making sure every leaf had enough sunlight and every root system had enough water. They laughed and told each other stories under the afternoon sun, Anna about her adventures through middle and high school, and Elsa about whatever novel she had been invested in lately – which was sure to become the next book Anna picked up at the library.

The sound of a door opening caught Anna's attention, and she looked up to see Elsa coming out of her house holding a silver platter with triangular cuts of sandwich arranged in a circular pattern around the plate. The older woman set the tray down on the small patio table, and retook her seat next to the college student.

"I hope you're hungry, dear," Elsa said with a chuckle as she reached for a triangle, "I seemed to have made a few too many this time."

Anna shook her head, grinning as she took a bite into the section of sandwich she had picked up, "You always make the best sandwiches, Elsa. It's a wonder I don't just shove them all into my face whenever you bring them out."

The two laughed together, chatting and telling stories as always while they finished off their lunch.

Though the patio was mostly covered from the sun, a ray or two started to dip below the covering as the afternoon drew on. Anna felt her forehead start to sweat, and wished she had something colder to drink than the tea Elsa had served them earlier. Noticing her friend's discomfort, the older woman placed a hand on Anna's shoulder.

"Would you like something iced to drink, Anna?" she asked worriedly, "it was cooler enough earlier with the breeze and the shade that I thought hot tea wouldn't be a problem, but I can go fix you an iced glass if you need."

Anna nodded, "that would be great, Elsa. You know," she started with a laugh, "I almost wish my hair was as short as yours, sometimes, with the heat we've been having."

Indeed, Elsa's illustrious white hair had always been trimmed down to a short style so the platinum strands never reached far beneath her ears. The older woman paused at this comment, and her eyes darkened for a moment, her gaze settling on a location that seemed to Anna to be miles away. "Yes well," she spoke distantly as she got up and headed back into her house, "it has been of great convenience to me over the decades."

Anna internally berated herself for bringing up her friend's hair. _Stupid,_ she thought, _you know Elsa's sensitive about that. Why on Earth would you bring it up again?_

The topic of Elsa's hair had come up more than a few times in the years that Anna had known her. The young girl had been shocked to learn that the beautiful, white color that she suspected was a product of old age was, indeed, her natural hair color.

"_Really?"_ a younger Anna had wondered, _"I've never seen anyone my age with beautiful hair like yours."_ Elsa had chuckled then, telling Anna that most people back in her youth couldn't keep their eyes off her hair.

"_It was my greatest asset," _she had explained, "_Men would do just about anything for 'the beautiful Elsa.' Even women couldn't keep their hands off of me."_ She had said with a wink.

Anna remembered her fifteen year-old self blushing at the thought of Elsa being with other women at a time when the idea of civil rights was barely in place. But she had persisted in her quest for knowledge, _"Did it used to be longer, then?"_ she had asked.

Elsa's eyes had darkened then, much like they had now. _"My hair was longer, for a time," _her friend had monotone, _"but everything has to come to an end, I suppose."_

The young girl never again brought up the length of Elsa's hair, though she repeatedly commented on the beauty of its color, noting that the older woman enjoyed that.

Anna heard the door open again, Elsa exited the house with a small smile on her face as she handed her friend the glass of iced tea.

"Sorry about the wait, dear," she said, obviously trying to change the subject from their conversation before she had disappeared into the house, "that darn ice machine was acting up again. Maybe you could get your friend Kristoff to come look at it later."

Anna smiled at the older woman, and placed her glass down on the table before standing up to hug her friend.

"I'm sorry, Elsa," she whispered in her ear as she wrapped her arms around the older woman. Anna could feel Elsa's arms circling around her body as well as her friend hugged her back. The two stayed like that for a few moments, enjoying the silent and secret feeling of companionship that they brought to each other.

Suddenly, Anna's watch began to beep. She pulled away from Elsa's embrace, noticing that the digital face read that the time was 2:15.

"Shit!" the redhead exclaimed, "I need to get back to the university!"

Anna reached down to the table to grab the glass of iced tea and threw it back into her mouth, savoring the cool liquid as it rushed down her hot throat. Finished, she placed the empty drink back on the table, and looked at Elsa with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry I don't have time to help you clean up today," Anna apologized, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked away, "I guess I lost track of time again."

Elsa smiled, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, "That's no trouble, my dear. Go, run along before that professor of yours blows a gasket."

Anna grinned at her friend, giving her one last hug before running off through the gate to where her car was parked. She fumbled for her keys, unlocking the car in a hurry. She sat down in her car, trying to ignore the burn of the sun-heated upholstery as she slammed the door shut and started the engine. The redhead looked up, giving Elsa one last excited wave goodbye as she slammed on the pedal, sending the tiny car screeching around the neighborhood once more as she sped off towards the university.


End file.
